Fair Grove Fun Day

Carter's school, Fair Grove Elementary, has an Annual Fun Day to raise money. It was really neat. There were 5 huge inflatables. My favorite was the tiger because that is their mascot. They also had lots of indoor games where they could win prizes. The boys had a great time!

Happy Birthday!

Saturday was Carter's 7th birthday, so he woke up to Star Wars balloons on his door and his gifts from us and Cooper. Cooper will be 3 on May 1st. Since their birthdays are so close, we've been having their party together. Since he's the oldest, Carter had a choice of where he wanted to have the party and out of all the places, he chose the Y because he wanted to swim and play basketball. Both boys have really gotten into Star Wars lately, but we had already planned on having a basketball theme. All of the Star Wars toys they got surely made up for it. Cooper wouldn't get in the pool, but he enjoyed everything else. They played basketball until everyone arrived, they swam next, then they ate pizza, opened presents, and played more basketball! I think everyone had a great time! I know we did! Their parties are so much fun to plan, but they are equally fun and stressful for me during it! I didn't even get a picture of me and David with the boys or of them with David's parents! Anyway, we are extremely blessed to have so many loving family and friends! The boys can now practically open their own toy store! We spent most of the day on Sunday watching Star Wars and opening all of the new toys. I have to admit, it's just as much fun for me as it is for them...I love playing with all the new toys!

Out of the mouths of babes:

Our pastor started a wonderful series this morning about money entitled "How to be Rich." All of the Sunday school teachers are also doing the same topic. Considering our church has about 800 or so members, that ought to be a huge impact. It's very interesting because it's not about tithing, it's just about money issues in general and how it affects people and marriages, etc. Our motto this morning was, "God has given me more than I need, I am rich." That really had a big impact on me because it's very true. God hasn't always blessed me with everything I want, but he has definitely blessed me with all that I need. My problem is that I get greedy and I always want more---more clothes, more scrapbook stuff, more house stuff, more stuff for the kids, just more stuff in general! Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that I just keep getting stuff. I typically only buy the amount of clothes that we need to get us through a season. I truly don't have many clothes compared to most people, although I'm sure I have a lot compared to others. For example, I'm not the type to have shoes to match every outfit in every color. That doesn't mean I don't want to, I'm just usually only able to afford the basic black and brown to go w/everything. That's one great thing about summer...$2 flip-flops! I can't help it, I just like NEW stuff and I get tired of things too easily. I guess it's human nature, but it's still sinful and yes, God is still working on me. That's a big area of weakness for me and thank goodness, God isn't finished with me yet. Anyway, if you're interested in seeing how awesome our church is or hearing any of the money stuff, just go to www.richfork.com.

I got off track, but my point of this posting was to tell you something funny Carter said. At the end of the sermon, we were all given plastic "silverware" to eat with this week to remind us how "rich" we are. When we got home, Carter said, "Oh, no, mama, we didn't get Cooper a silver wax!"

Change of Heart...

Most of you know that we have a beautiful yellow Labrador Retriever named Raleigh. Raleigh Spartan Pollock, to be exact. Of course, Raleigh because it's the home of the Wolfpack and Spartan because that's UNCG's mascot (where I went to college). He had to have a full name because he was bred and is AKC registered. He will be 8 years old on April 22nd.

We got him a year after we were married when he was only 7 weeks old, although we hand picked him just after he was born. They painted his "toenails" pink and put our name down for him. What a cute little puppy he was! That is until he started chewing the door frames, eating our underwear, and destroying pretty much anything else he could get ahold of. I loved him even then. He was my baby until my real baby came along. Then, nesting got the best of me and I couldn't stand the dog hair so Raleigh no longer got free run of the house. He grew bigger and bigger while his space got smaller and smaller through the years.

I must add that this was my decision, not David's. David has always considered Raleigh to be his 1st son! I'll never forget the time I woke up at 4am and David wasn't in bed. I walked downstairs to find him fast asleep on the couch with tiny Raleigh asleep on his chest. He said, "Raleigh was crying." I remember thinking, "Oh, what a good Daddy he'll be!"

Raleigh finally grew out of the puppy stage and has truly been the best dog ever! He obeys, is great with the boys, and even knows a few tricks. Recently, I read the book Marley, Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog by John Grogan. I've wanted to read it for years and finally got around to it. I have now had a change of heart. Raleigh once again has free run of the house! The book was almost an exact replica of our life with Raleigh. It was so good and it made me laugh and cry (ALOT!). But, most of all, it made me appreciate and love Raleigh even more! I guess it made me realize that we really don't have that much time left with him and I want my family to enjoy every minute of it. I have to admit that it makes me so happy to see him lying in the living room floor with Carter on one side and Cooper on the other. The boys love it, too! Carter is excited to have Raleigh lay beside his bed. They are having so much more fun playing with him now inside instead of just outside. I'll bet you can't guess who is the happiest of all...I'll give you a hint...he has 4 legs! How could I not give us all this wonderful opportunity?!?

Moment of Truth

On her website, Karen Kingsbury discusses the show, "The Moment of Truth." After seeing the previews, her kids wanted to watch it. Even though she didn't want them to, they all agreed to watch the 1st episode together. Here's her response:

When the show was over, Don and I talked to the kids about the Bible and how God is clear that people cannot serve both God and money. God asks us to love one another, to encourage and uplift one another, and to think of others as better than ourselves.

This new reality show asks people to do the exact opposite – all for the love of money. I’m not sure what will become of this trainer and his marriage, his job, or his personal life but I know this:
He was willing to sell it all for the sake of cold, hard cash.

As we talked about the show and the Bible, a light began to dawn in the eyes of each of our kids. “Wow . . . you’re right, Mom,” our oldest said. “This really is a terrible show.”
“Yeah,” our middle son said. “When you think about it, they’re coming on the show because they care more about money than the people closest to them.”

Exactly.

In our greedy, realty-crazed culture, it is difficult not to watch as someone takes the contestant’s chair and sets about selling out their family and friends. It’s so horrific, we can barely look away. But as a society, as believers in Jesus Christ, we must choose to look away, to not glorify a life that is in direct opposition to God’s calling for us to love.

For our family, the Moment of Truth was a great reminder that we are not to trample the people God has placed in our lives. We are to love them more than ourselves. Let’s agree to take a stand today against this type of ultimate greed. Let’s counter the message of the Moment of Truth with an extra bit of kindness and generosity, an effort at even more encouragement as we go through this week.

Because only when we understand God’s directive to love one another, will we really find ourselves in a moment of truth.

Wow! Nobody else could've said it better!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is mine and David's 9th anniversary! He sent me a beautiful bouquet of spring flowers to work! Yes, I am talking about the David Pollock we all know and love! I have to admit, even I was surprised! These are my favorite kinds of flowers and ironically, the kind we had in our wedding! I love them!

Happy Easter!

I took Thursday off and went to preschool with Cooper for his egg hunt and party. When Carter and Daddy got home, we left for the beach. We had a very good time. The weather was beautiful, but the wind was a little chilly. The boys still enjoyed playing football in the sand and playing in the indoor pool and hot tub. We went to an Easter egg hunt at the mall while we were there. We didn't find the golden egg with the $500 gift card, however, we got lots of candy instead! As if my kids need any more candy! As luck would have it, Carter lost his 2nd tooth the night before Easter, so the Tooth Fairy paid a visit as well! I was prepared because I was expecting his tooth to come out at any time, so I took his tooth fairy pillow with us. Just like before, she left him note and a trail of gold dust along with $1. The Easter Bunny came and left a trail of "poop" along with his paw prints and lots of goodies!